Review: Stoke’s Grill
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
At some point, Jeff Bearer (of Craft Beer Radio fame) started suggesting I try out Stoke’s Grill down on McKnight. It didn’t take too much explanation for me ot become interested, and in the past few weeks, I’ve made my way over there—twice. For me, it’s roughly on the way between work and home, so it’s fairly easy to stop by on my way.
Though you can find a veggie option or two, the pickings on that side of the menu are somewhat slim. That drove me to drop my veggie-leaning goal on both visits. The first trip was marred in failure—mostly because I avoided the sandwiches and went for a salad. For the second trip, I corrected myself and was quite pleased.
Stoke’s Grill (West View)
www.stokesgrill.net
4771 McKnight Rd
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
(412) 369-5380
Like most establishments on McKnight, Stoke’s is in a strip mall. They’re actually right next door to the North Hills instance of El Campesino—down in the southern section of McKnight. The City Paper review calls them a sandwich shop, but I don’t really think that does them justice. Between the BYOB option and deeply independent status, I think they fall into a slightly different category—though it’s hard to think of a good label. On the other hand, they do put considerable thought in their sandwiches and even avoid the sandwich shop tendency to go overboard on portioning. Basically, I’m a somewhat hesitant fan of the place. (more)
Early Notes: Sharp Edge Downtown
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Reviews
People like me, who pay attention to good beer, have been eagerly awaiting the latest addition to the local beer scene: a downtown location of the Sharp Edge—prettymuch the defacto establishment for Belgian beer in Pittsburgh. Last month, the eagerly awaited new location opened its doors. Not to much later, I managed to drag a friend from work over there on a Friday after work.
It’s been a few (busy) weeks, but I’ll take a stab at writing down some of my thoughts. Consider this post a starting point. I tend to be biased against the food at any Sharp Edge just because they lack much in the way of healthy options or veggie-centric dishes. The new place has some new options, but I still had a somewhat negative food experience in this trip. My hope (and expectation) is that I can write that off to the new kitchen still finding it’s way. A trip back will likely be a better indicator.
The Sharp Edge Bistro on Penn
www.sharpedgebeer.com
922 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-338-2437
For anyone who doesn’t follow the local beer scene, The Sharp Edge now has 5 locations throughout the city. Long before interest in craft beer really started to explode, The Sharp Edge was serving up a huge variety of hard-to-come-by Belgian beers—starting from their original location in East Liberty, the “Beer Emporium.” The menu very much follows suit: plenty of Belgian-inspired dishes along side some individually prepared pizzas that I’m told are quite a hit (and half price during happy hour). Also half price during happy hour: Belgian Drafts. If you can show up before 6:30, you probably won’t be disappointed. (more)
Review: Sababa Middle Eastern Grill
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
Not all that long ago, Mr. Willies Barbecue closed its doors (and, in retrospect, foreshadowed the closure of Kazansky’s). Willies never seemed to really pull together something that got people excited, and eventually shuttered—and, yes, the missing apostrophe bothers me too. Whenever a restaurant closes like that, I see opportunity: I see it as a chance for someone new and different to try their own luck. Maybe I’m just way too optimistic it worked out in this case: it didn’t take too long at all for a new place to show up. A few weeks back, signs went up in the vacant Mr. Willie’s space—covering up the refinements inside. As of last week, Sababa Middle Eastern Grill had opened.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to expect when I first noticed ongoing work behind paper-covered windows. When a vinyl sign replaced the window’s paper, the sign and seemed a little to nice—like it had come out of an actual marketing department. It was just “too professional” to be an independent place. That, of course, triggered concern: what if all that filled the space was a boring chain? Then last week, I received a glowing report from a FoodBurgh reader. Not only was Sababa’s open but they reportedly served up some of the best Falafel in the ‘Burgh. That push renewed my interest and inspired a walk over that way. Thanks Melanie!
Sababa’s Middle Eastern Grill
www.sababapgh.com
2121 Murray Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
(412) 422-8000
Contrary to my fears, Sababa’s is an entirely family owned Middle Eastern restaurant—not some big chain. From a brief chat with the family-members behind the counter, it sounds like bringing their take on Middle Eastern cuisine to Pittsburgh has been a family dream for some time. When Mr. Willies closed and the space opened up, they went for it. As far as I know, they opened for business in early June.
In an after dinner conversation with the owner owner/founder/chef, I was told that the new restaurants style leans toward a more Turkish/Syrian take on cuisine. He explained that category as a contrast to the Lebanese stylings of Aladdins. I should have probed further to get a read on where that category falls relative to Taza 21 or Mediterranean Grill, but I didn’t. Regardless of the stylistic trend, I’m glad to see a new place pop up. It seems to have its own niche—similar to Aladins in terms of setting but serving up a different take on Middle Eastern cuisine. (more)
Review: Juice Box Cafe
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
I think I have a new Pittsburgh favorite in the Juice Box Cafe. This is actually the tail of my queue—my most recent restaurant visit. I’m bumping it to the top of the order because they really deserve it. My backlogged posts tend to go up in priority order anyway.
There’s a funny story in this one: I was so intent on showing it in the right light that I went twice. As I arrived for my first post, I noticed a smudge on my camera lens. Despite my best effort to clean it off there, the photos were horrible. With a trusty Cue-Tip™ and a dab of a laptop display cleaner, I cleaned off the lens. A week later, I went back. Turns out, one of the girls running the show was feeling a little self-conscious about my first trip anyway: it seems she left the tomato out of my greek salad. For at least three different reasons, I’d say it’s good I went back.
The Juice Box Cafe
www.juiceboxpitt.com
735 Copeland
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
(412) 802-7070
Located in Shadyside in the same little cove as Mercurio’s and Girasole, Juice Box Cafe is definitely a new Shadyside addition: they just opened in April 2010. You’ll find them in the hard-to-spot lowest level of the cove, but they certainly don’t seem to have any trouble getting the word out. They’ve already made the pages of the City Paper, Post Gazette, and Pop City—plus mention in at least one other local blog. Also worth noting, the person behind their marketing arm (Sarah) is rocking it on Twitter the right way by really participating in the conversation (though it’s clear she does most of her Twitter processing after Juice Box closes in the late afternoon).
I usually try to avoid writing up places that just about everyone else is already posting about, but really…I couldn’t skip this one. (more)
Review: Penn Brewery Restaurant
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
So what was the last thing I wrote up? The restaurant party contest? Times have been very busy at work—weekends and all. The good news: it hasn’t prevented me from trying several new places; the bad news: I haven’t posted anything about those trips. Consider this post a quick stab at getting started on the backlog…starting with Penn Brewery.
Penn Brewery & Restaurant
www.pennbrew.com
800 Vinial St
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
(412) 237-9400
If you haven’t read my preview post from growler hours the week before they opened, go catch up. After that preview post, I went back—twice. Once with some friends during the soft opening, and again with the Pittsburgh Beer Meetup. Both visits were on week nights, so there was still quite a bit of open space at the tables around us. It will be interesting to see how crowded things get now that they’re back in full swing (or on the weekends). (more)
Giveaway: Best Restaurants Party
Posted by mike | Filed under Meta
I have another fun giveaway for anyone who wants to enter. This time, Pittsburgh Magazine is letting me hand out two tickets to next week’s Best Restaurants Party. I’m even making it easy for you to win: just post a comment below with an idea for what place I need to try next. On Saturday (May 22) at 8:00am, I’ll randomly select a winner from among all valid entries.
The short form. For those who like it short and sweet…
- I will be handing out two free tickets for the Best Restaurants Party.
- You post a comment below recommending a restaurant for FoodBurgh.
- You make sure to include a valid email address with your comment
- I randomly pick one of the valid entries on May 22 at 8:00am.
- I broadcast the winner’s name on facebook and Twitter.
- I email you details how how to get your tickets.
The long form. Now, for those who tolerate verbosity… (more)
Review: Dinette
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
Dinette is one of those places that just about everyone has told me I need to hit up, but yet I knew very little about. Part of that is because they’re in a part of town I don’t frequent all that often (East Liberty), and part of that is because they’re pretty well hidden even when I am in the area. Well, it’s really kind of “hidden in plain view.” The sit way up on the top level of the parking structure next to Whole Foods.
Anyway, sounds like a good destination for a FoodBurgh Meetup, right?
Dinette
www.dinette-pgh.com
5996 Penn Cir S
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
(412) 362-0202
I’ll classify Dinette as kind of an upscale-ish, locally inspired pizza destination. Just don’t read too much into the upscale: they’re actually quite casual. China Millman called it “casual fine dining,” and I’ll wholeheartedly agree. You get all the quality and high expectations of fine dining, without a hint of stuffiness. Better yet, they seem to really deliver, which isn’t always the case for straight up “fine dining.” As appropriate for the local sourcing, the menu changes frequently (daily, in fact) but always features pizza with a spattering of Italian-themed appetizers and salads. They also sport a small but generally high quality beer list (all bottled) and what looks like a wine list of similar quality (actually, probably better). (more)
Preview: Penn Brewery Sampler
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Reviews
For the past few months, Penn Brewery has been slowly easing into the whole grand re-opening thing. First a kick-off event, then growler hours, and now some appetizers. At this point, we’re just a week away from from the return of the full restaurant (give or take). I already made it out to growler hours once before, but on Friday, I went out yet again—this time to sample a few appetizers from Chef Greg (the former restaurant’s chef).
Penn Brewery & Restaurant
www.pennbrew.com
800 Vinial St
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
(412) 237-9400
For those of you that need a little context, Penn Brewery lead a fairly stable local existence from 1989 to 2003. At that point, a private equity firm purchased a controlling stake, then 6 years later shut down all brewing operations and very nearly closed down the restaurant. At that point, all Penn brews were outsourced to the Lion Brewery in Wilkes-Barre. 6 months later, the restaurant closed. 6 months after that (this past December), the original owner (Tom Pastorious) and a small group of local investors bought back the brewery and immediately began preparations for a reopening. That pretty much takes us up to today.
Now get ready. The official re-opening is now scheduled for May 5. If you’re looking for an opportunity to go, the Pittsburgh Beer Meetup is planning to head over the following week: on May 11. I know I’ll be there (after all, I’m organizing the outing). (more)
Review: Duke’s Upper Deck Cafe
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Reviews
Not long ago, I made my way over to Duke’s Upper Deck Cafe for dinner. I had noticed the place a few times in the past, and even stopped there for a beer with my parents when they were in town for Easter. Trust me, my parents are more open to trying a new place than you are. They may have even twisted my arm a little—all without any knowledge of how well it would turn out.
Fast forward a few weeks, and I’ve been to Duke’s a total of three times: once for my pre-Easter parental bar crawl, and twice for dinner. That means I’ve managed to see several different parts of the menu.
Duke’s Upper Deck Cafe
122 W 8th Ave
Homestead, PA 15120
(412) 461-8124
Duke’s is yet another Homestead find—just to the right of where the Homestead Grays Bridge hits 8th (and across the street from the Walgreens). If you pay attention, you can even see them from the bridge.
Being so close to Blue Dust, it seems like I walk or drive by fairly frequently and always wondered what to expect. From talking around, it sounds like some of my friends feel the same way. That uncertainty makes it exactly the kind of place I like to write up for FoodBurgh. Remember, even Blue Dust started out that way. (more)
Review: Molly Brannigan’s
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Reviews
Irish-themed establishments and good beer tend to go hand-in-hand, so I’m always up for giving a new one a try. Having been to only some of Pittsburgh’s Irish joints and having just survived another St Patrick’s Day, the end of March seemed like as good a time as any to give a new one a try. Result: I invited the FoodBurgh Meetup members to join me at Molly Brannigan’s.
Molly Brannigan’s
www.mollybrannigans.com
660 Washington Rd
Mt Lebanon, PA 15228
(412) 341-7827
Molly Brannigan’s is a chain—local in scale but regional in dispersion. They have exactly three locations, but they’re all spread out around Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh location is in Mt Lebanon—right on Washington Rd, while the others are in Erie and Harrisburg. This was actually my first visit. Prior to a vew weeks ago, I had driven by a number of times but never really made my way out there. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, but had moderately high hopes. (more)
